Found an R1, worth it?
 

I tracked down a black on black 93 R1 for 8,700 in need of a new motor. From what i understand, its pristine outside of the enigne. New turbos, full reliability mods, but get this: it was a daily driver with 180,000+ miles on it?! That sounds like a phenomal amount of mileage. What do you guys think of this find? (Baring my test driving/inspecting it.)

sounds like a heap of junk. Buy one in good shape to start off, you will be much happier and richer in the long run. 180k? christ, I don't knwo if anyone has ever seen an FD with that much mileage.

My advice is pay a premieum for a good car, unless you plan on redoing the whole thing. However gettign one in great shape is always cheaper.

Although, sounds like a good project car, but with that many miles in the end you still have a car with 180k on it.

Good luck in whatever you do, and welcome to the forum

If it is indeed pristine except for the motor, then that would be a good deal. But I can't see how a car with 180k miles could be "pristine" unless the guy just drove cross country back and forth. I mean, mine has only 40k miles and already the left seat bolster, shift knob and shift boot are worn out. I think some people misuse the word "pristine", but totally go check it out and see for yourself. If he got the original engine to last 187k, wow, he took good care of it. Mainly check the paint since that's the most expensive thing aside from the engine. All the incidental stuff adds up, but if the paint looks good and interior looks good, that sounds like a deal.

do a paint thickness check with a paint gauge....if the paint is really good, it's worth $8k, np

put some of Jim Lab's bushings in, a new motor and radiator, possibly rebuild the trans, and you should be good to go

haha...
 

i just talked to rick today. this is the one in pottstown pa right? i am interested as well, but i cant see myself moving on this deal. this is what i got from rick...

the paint was resprayed from the hood to the middle of the roof under warranty. he said it is faded in undetectably. the only things that really worried me about this car is the fact that a.the suspension is stock (184k) and b.the driveline/clutch is stock (184k). he claimed that it still grabbed well but there is no way of telling that now, but he did say that he recommended that it be replaced with the engine. the car has been sitting since May...outside :eek: , but it still sounds pretty nice. he did get the thing to last that long though, so there is something to be said for that...

184k. thats gotta be a record or something for a stock rotary.

For what its worth I looked at one today in Elkins Park, Pa.

Its a red R1 w/ black or charcoal grey (might be faded,lol) cloth interior. Roughly 83000 miles BUT needs tlc inside and out. I drove it and it didnt run too shabby tho. Altho I did notice it drop a few bits of oil after our drive. The ad is posted on this forum.

haha again!
 

drove the one in elkins park as well! you are right it didnt run that bad...i thought it pulled hard and the boost spooled up as it should (using my keen sense of boost-spooling without a gauge:D ). hmmm...i didnt notice the drips of oil :o . i figure with the miles though it is gonna need a rebuild very, very soon. the exterior was a little rough but not too bad.

honestly, this car is one of the top 2 i am looking to buy, but i am especially nervous cause i have not once been in contact with the owner, only his friend who acts as a middle man relaying messages.

I guess it depends on what you are going to do with this car. I agree if you are gonna keep this car and build it from top to bottom, then it would be worth it, as a toy....

I bought my third gen for $8,000. My Sexy7 had 100,000 miles but it had a new engine and rebuilt turbos before I bought it. It was changed at 70K. Exterior is crap, needs a new paint job and interior is alright, needs new seats and dash plastic panels. Aside from that everything works. My deal was that I couldn't afford to buy a premium FD for the premium price. However, when I thought about it, if I bought one for cheap, I have time to build on it...because it's going to be a hobby or a project car.

Forget how many miles it has for now and let say you are trying to get this baby rolling. My philosophy is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Let say the tranny works yaddayaddayadda

Car : $8700
Engine : anywhere from 2K to 5K
So now you have a running FD for around $10,700 to $13,700

Let say you'll drop another $1300 for coolant flush, brakes, boost guage, water guage, ast replacement, vacuum hose replaced, turbo timer, K&N Air filter and whatever else you can do with the rest of the $1300.

So now, yo are at $12K to $15K. Yes you have 180K miles but you have a running FD with a new engine....but see, this mght be in fantasy world because what if, you'll need a new radiator, 500 bucks, water pump (80 bucks, but the install is expensive if you are not doing it), tranny (www.mazmart.com) etc. Then it would be a pain.

Then, what about upgrades....Man! I could go on and on...and this stuff gets expensive.

Anyway, It goes back to what you really want to do with the car. I didn't care about the high mileage because I knew from the get go that it's going to be a project car.

I love my Sexy7
Laters,
Jason

If you enjoy tinkering with projects get the car. If not stay away from it. Its "value" is dependant on your hobbies.